Product Description

Special DVD features include:
Two camera angles: from the back, as if in a class, and from the side, showing a close-up of the instructor's feet.

Subtitle Feature: On-screen display of the musical counts.

Three Sections of the DVD:
Learn the Basics,
implement them into Exercises,
and learn a Combination incorporating everything you've learned!

Steps taught on the DVD:
Step, Touch, Step Heel, Ball Change, Hop / Leap, Hop Step, Shuffle, Shuffle Ball Change, Flap, Flap Ball Change, Stamp / Stomp, Paddles, Waltz Clog, Flap, Shuffle, Hop, Buffalo, and more!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10133 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-10-15
• Format: NTSC
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 95 minutes

From the Director
With this video, it was my goal to not forget what it was like to be an 'absolute beginner' in learning tap, and make the instruction as clear as possible, while still moving at a pace fast enough to keep the user engaged and challenged.

Each step is meticulously broken down and explained the process of creating the sounds, with an emphasis on correct body placement and accurate rhythm. Every step is taught and rehearsed with the right and left foot.

Every exercise is presented at 2 tempos: slow at first, then faster the second time through. Comments and helpful hints are given between each repetition.

You can clearly see my feet from the side camera angle in each and every exercise.

You can also see an on-screen display of the musical counts, for those of you who are visual learners.

Most importantly, the goal of the video is not to show you someone tap dancing and leaving it to you to guess how to do it, but to show you a way to develop for yourself a clear and definite technique for all of the basics of tap.

Happy tapping!

About the Actor
Eli Newsom teaches tap classes in New York City and San Francisco, and has studied with some of the best tap instructors in the United States. He specializes in teaching tap to beginners with no previous experience, and to dancers with previous experience who want to improve their rhythms and technique.

Customer Reviews

Excellent fundamentals of Tap
I just received this DVD and having reviewed a number of the lessons, am very impressed. As an adult beginner, I have been taking tap lessons for over a year or two, and have purchased a number of other tap instructional materials. I wish I had this DVD at the beginning! Eli does a great job of breaking down the fundamental elements of tap, with an emphasis on correct technique, providing tips on correct weight transfer and timing, and at a pace that is easy to follow. Even though I thought I was already familiar with most of the steps presented in the lessons, in fact I learned something new about even the most basic of steps, such as a ball-change or hop. For example, he introduces the ("simple") step, hop, flaps and shuffles individually, then combinations of a shuffle-hop-step and flap-shuffle-hop, that (I believe) are elements of a time-step (which has been problematic for me). I feel confident that a review of these lessons will help me improve on the steps I am working on today, and, with these technical foundations, will more quickly learn newer ones. I highly recommend this for anyone wanting to learn tap.

Good place to start.
This is an excellent DVD for adult beginners; it covers the basics steps very well and adds some nice combinations that actually look like tap dancing. Watching the lessons is a lot like being in a class; the instructor shows the step part by part, helps you practice it slowly a few times, and then gradually brings you up to speed. When the steps are put into combinations, the instructor doesn't assume you've totally mastered the basic step; he covers the combination nice and slow as well. One advantage over a live class is the use of a split-screen; you can see his feet from both the back and the side at the same time. And, of course, you can slow it down even more or pause it if you need to.

One of the things I really like about this DVD is the instructor's style of dance. It's not the fixed-smile-and-splayed-fingers kind of tap I associate with little girls in sequined outfits. It's the smooth, relaxed-looking style of Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and Ginger Rogers. Obviously, one beginning tap DVD isn't going to get you to Broadway, but this one is a good place to start.

Great "How To" Tap Video
This is the most useful "how to" video I have ever tried. Within a couple of sessions, I was able to follow along and I had never tapped before. The menu is set up so you can play any technique separately, so you can tap even if you only have 10 minutes free! Often, videos like this show begining technique but at an advanced pace - which is discouraging. Not here. You can see yourself progress each time you move up in pace. Easy to follow, and fun. I cannot wait for the next level to be released!